I had the chance to give a talk at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo) on asemic writing and then lead a workshop with about 20 students, over an entire day, creating asemic poems.

The invitation was thanks the brilliant typographer Stefan Ellmer and designer Maziar Raein. They have led a research group at the academy on asemic and abstract writing and we’ve corresponded on the subject for quite some time.

The talk I gave will be online soon, but following a fascinating technical talk from Stefan I spoke off the cuff not only about asemic poetry was, in my opinion, but why i think i was led to it as a form of poetry, and what it’s benefits are.

The workshop that followed was really resonant, and went so well I took things from it that I will factor into all my future teaching in the subject. The students, like Stefan and Maziar, were unusually hospitable and kind and funny. Over the course of the day I had the students writing with their mouths and feets, backwards and upside down, battling over pens mid script, and creating giant scrolls of asemic poems.

A great experience and more documentation to post soon.